Vanyx
by zeptoel
Summary: The Eftle Quadrant has been lost forever, but a strange assassin has planted a device that reacts with the planet Vanyx, creating a terror beyond imagination.


Part 1 - The Assassin  
  
It wasn't everyday that a co-op mission would be to send eight men into the middle of the masses of Zerg minion. But it was also uncommon for the Zerg to move with strategic thinking, logic, and most of all, kidnap the best ghost the Terran Confederacy has ever produced. Kailen Zeptoel of the Kanthrall Sector had simply disappeared three moons ago, without any signs of struggle. That may be because the entire sector had been infested with Zerg minions. All human settlement had been wiped out completely, and with Kanthrall gone the Terrans were in a state of panic. The small Confederate outpost that General Stettin had been positioned at Eftle, a small cluster of newly discovered planets just on the outskirts of a massive Zerg swarm. Stettin was commanded to monitor the Zerg. any unusual activities, any unnecessary attacks, or generally anything weird was to be reported to Terran Head-Quarters immediately. The purpose? The galactic battles between the Terran, Zerg, and Protoss have been raging as long as anyone can remember. and the Zerg's motives have always seemed to destroy all life. True, they were still killing anything in their path, but now their moves have added up to more than it seems. The Zerg has positioned itself so that it controlled four of the five major quadrants in the galaxy of Tritan. The last quadrant was the quadrant in which the legend of the Xel'Naga lay. It had never been seen before, but the Zerg have definitely been making their moves with reason and with logic.  
  
Tritan has twelve quadrants, one being Eftle. The Terran control three quadrants, Eftle being the smallest and newest of the three. The rest of the quadrants were still sketchy because the Protoss and Zerg are always actively taking over quadrants. Eftle includes two planets and two sectors, each sector consisted of two planets or one planet and its moon. The sectors are Kanthrall, Sonaris, the planets are Vanyx, and Energy.  
  
"Reltz, Cap'n wants to see you," came the gruff voice of a large burly man of about thirty.  
  
"Huh?" Reltz looked up. "Oh right. Thanks Cutter." The large man named cutter grunted his welcome and pulled out a cigarette.  
  
"You know Reltz, I we're all going to die tomorrow," said Cutter, one knee propped up on a bench near the back of the room. Reltz did not reply. Instead, he uncomfortably ran his fingers through the strands of his short black hair. He exhaled.  
  
"That cigarette will kill you before tomorrow, man. You gotta cut off the smoke," said Reltz as he reached up onto a shelf for his combat hat. "See ya." Cutter looked up from his position and watched Reltz start to walk out of the room. He reached up to his mouth for his unlit cigarette, took it out, and stared at it for a second, then he grunted and rested his head on his knee. After Reltz had left the room for two or three seconds, the body of Cutter Jonas slumped lifelessly to the floor, streaks of blood flowing down the fresh wound he had received on his back... it sparkled with strange energy and had killed him instantly. Suddenly, Cutter's arm shot into the air, and his other arm followed suit and they crisscrossed. Cutter's body moved towards the disposal vent as if being dragged by some invisible force. The flap opened with a hissing of compressed air being released, and Cutter slid down into the shaft, never to be seen again. The lights of the small room turned off. the door opened slowly, stopping at a crack at first, then opened completely, and was silently closed.  
  
With his hands in his pockets, his head pointed to the ground, Reltz walked through the corridors swiftly and silently. His ninja-like manner made him seem as if he was gliding across the floor. As he walked toward the door that would lead him upstairs to the command room, it came outwards and a medic came bounding out, looking angry.  
  
"Insane! Why would he pick me? The evil bastard just can't resist my beauty. but if he wants to see more of me why wouldn't he leave me here so he can pick on me like this some more?" the medic said, motioning her hands in the air as she looked straight at Reltz.  
  
"Shut up, man." Reltz said, one corner of his thin mouth curling up in a sly grin. His grin switched sides and he shook his head as he lowered it to hide his broadening smile. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry Jess. What are they having you do?"  
  
Silence. Reltz looked up. Jess was crumpled on the floor, her body creasing with the bottom corner of the wall and her head hanging low.  
  
"Jess?" his voice raising, a note of uncertainty in it. He bent down swiftly and brought his hand out to check her pulse, which was lucky. The wall behind where he had just been standing a split second ago made an ear splitting crack. Snapping his head in a 180 degree motion, Reltz cursed under his breath. There was a streak of destruction in the wall, broken pieces of concrete lay on the floor, dust was floating in the air. Reltz rolled to the side quickly, and grabbed hold of Jess's arms and pulled with all his might. He had nearly escaped once again. The floor that he had just been bending down upon shattered, and Reltz could see the story beneath him. A group of marines had looked up to see what had caused the destruction.  
  
With no time to think, Reltz hoisted himself from the ground, grabbed a hold of Jess's limp body and ran for it. He slung Jess's body over his back and dashed to the door, wrenched it open, and heard a small whistling sound. Something was flying through the air so fast it was making that whistle.  
  
"Shiiiit!" Something hit his back and he was sent flying forward into the new corridor. Jess's body had made contact with the dark sparkling psi blade that protruded rudely from her once "beautiful" body. He began to stand up again, sprinting forward as he was still half sprawled on the ground and half upright. There were footsteps coming rapidly toward him from forward and behind. Not knowing whether he would find friend or foe behind him, he continued to run forward inanely.  
  
"Reltz, you fag! What the hell are y-" the marine at the head of the pack shouted, but he was interrupted as he was decapitated on the spot, his head flying like a football through the air, splashing onto the wall and creating a puddle of red liquid on the ground.  
  
"DAaamn!" the new front of the pack shouted. "The FUCK!?" The pack of marines instantly drew out their gauss rifles as they lowered themselves into combat mode.  
  
"Its got psi blades!" shouted someone. Reltz started to run again, but he collided into the Captain himself.  
  
"What the-" he started, but yet another marine exploded into pieces of human flesh as the invisible killer struck again. "GET US A FUCKING COMSAT OVER HERE SPIKKS!"  
  
Spikks was the technical director of the station they were at, and he was in charge of almost all the equipment, including the comsat scanner.  
  
"MOVE YOU FOOL!" said one of the marines in the pack of victims. He was panic stricken.. dumbfounded. He didn't know what was going on. He had been trained to fight, yes, but not against a target that he could not see. "I SAID MOVE!" he shouted again, as he pushed the marine in front of him roughly to the ground, which was actually fortunate for the marine. The real fool that pushed his shield of flesh to the ground was impaled by a new sparkling psi blade, and the impact sent him flying backwards into the rest of the group. The marine that had been pushed wisely stayed on the ground.  
  
A familiar beeping sound rang into the corridor, and a gaunt, dark warrior could be seen, picking up his weapon from the floor. The warrior had many features of a human, but it was obviously not. Dark purple in color, the slim and silent assassin was definitely not Zerg, but it looked too ragged and dressed too odd to be a genuine Protoss. There was something wrong about it.  
  
"SHOOT AT IT DAMNIT!" the commander shouted at the group of fallen marines. At hearing this, the figure looked up, two long fangs now visible as his narrow and slit eyes darted upwards, realizing that he was now a visible target. The stunned group of marines began to open fire at their new target, most of them still trying to get up from the ground. The dark assassin took the fire of the marines as if they weren't hurting him at all, but he knew he could not win this battle. He raised his arm and sliced a gigantic hole in the side of the wall and climbed out, the exiting half disappearing from view as the effects of comsat wore off.  
  
"WAHHHH!!!!!" one of the marines on the floor leapt out after the cloaked monster, but all that ever came back was his head.  
  
"Shit man.. what the fuck was that?" Reltz asked, breathless.  
  
"Spikks, do you see him?" the commander said. He was pressing the side of a headset he was wearing.  
  
"Ya.. I'm following him with comsats right now. He's heading for the East exit, and seems to know his way around pretty well. Should I send guys to kill him?"  
  
"Yes, kill him.. whatever or whoever he is."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Spikks?"  
  
There was a clattering sound on the other side as if the other walkie- talkie device had been dropped.  
  
"SHIT!" shouted the captain as he jumped out the hole in the wall, footsteps rapidly becoming less audible as each second passed.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" asked the marine that had been pushed to the ground.  
  
"The Command Center Spikks was in is right next to the east exit." Said Reltz as he followed the captain's steps and ran out. 


End file.
